THE ROSE TATTOO Previews — Page 2

Has anyone seen the show recently?  This negative buzz is shattering and making me think I need to get rid of our tickets when I am in the city - I think opens next week so I'd imagine press previews have begun?

I have never seen the play or the film but love Williams but a play being both BORING and TERRIBLE as has been mentioned on this thread as me concerned that I should try to see and see something else

VernonGersch said: "Has anyone seen the show recently? This negative buzz is shattering and making me think I need to get rid of our tickets when I am in the city - I think opens next week so I'd imagine press previews have begun?

I have never seen the play or the film but love Williams but a play being both BORING and TERRIBLE as has been mentioned on this thread as me concerned that I should try to see and see something else"

Act I, I found, dragged to an absurd degree and there is one scene with two characters who literally never reappear that, while amusing for a moment, goes on for far too long and doesn't advance the plot all that much. If you can make it through Act I, though, I thought that Act II was absolutely delightful: fun, comedic, and romantic all at once, and it actually let both Marisa Tomei and Emun Elliott shine a little bit.

I'm glad that I saw it for completeness sake as a Tennessee Williams buff, but I'm not sure the play itself is salvageable, even in the hands of the greatest directors alive today. You could probably do it with about 15 minutes' worth of Act I and then the full Act II run as a one-act play, but I doubt the estate would permit it. So unfortunately this is what we're left with: a piece that does not do its players' talent justice.

VernonGersch said: "roof, I will so be skipping this. life is too short for mediocre theater - and way too expensive"

Yeah, if you can swap your tickets out, it's worth doing it. There's enough good theatre in NYC right now that this one really can be given a pass.

Maybe there's a reason no one bothers reviving this play anymore. 

rg7759 said: "i do believe if you didnt enjoy it, its because of the play and not the production. i went in skeptical and ended up enjoying it for the great marisa performance, the fun chemistry, and for what they tried to do to make it a fresh production. i was thinking about the one part of 'nine' almost the whole time"

I think that's a fair perspective. I saw it for two reasons: first, I wanted to see Marisa Tomei onstage, and second, I am a huge fan of Tennessee Williams' work. I don't regret going on either account, and the performances were great, but I really do think this is one of TW's weaker works, and that accounts for a lot of the criticisms of the current production.

Dollypop said: "Why has this thread popped up after a few years?"

Yeah I was wondering about that too. It was just there for awhile before your reply, I wonder if there was a deleted reply? 

(Personally, I didn't need to be reminded of that production, but it was fun to read the replies again, including my own.)